Take time out from seeking extra-terrestrial life and set up your computer screen saver to do something even more useful - driving spammers out of business. Lycos has created a screen saver called "Make LOVE not SPAM" which uses your computer's free time (and that of many other computers) to, basically, perform a denial of service attack on known spammers. Good times :)

Check out the HoloDek Gaming Center, a new video game arena in New Hampshire. The site is a bit Slashdotted right now, so I can't make out too many details, besides the fact that it exists. Apparently the Game Sphere is supposed to be neat.

How would you like to have one of the worst jobs in science? "When I grow up, I want to be an anal wart researcher!" Interestingly, pubilc-school science teacher and nurse made the same list as tampon squeezer.

The PowerStrip Saver solves an age old problem of computer geeks... Not only does it let you actually USE all of the outlets on your power strip, it lets you plug in even more stuff. Please use responsibly.

Allow me to go into old fart mode for a moment. Remember when you could just sit down and play video games? Not learn, study, and train all 80 million button combinations, sit through 10 minute "cutscenes", and rack your brain trying to remember where "keycard A" goes into "slot B". Remember when the actual play mechanics of a game were what made them fun? Playing Pac-Man was nothing like playing Tempest, which was nothing like playing Kaboom, which was nothing like playing Pitfall. Well, believe it or not, the Japanese seem to still operate on this principle - and one game from Namco (the Pac-Man people) somehow escaped to America and is available on the Playstation 2 for under $20.



It's called Katamari Damacy, and it is a blast. I'll let you read this review to get the whole backstory, because it's a doozy. Even without the unintentional lost-in-translation humor, it's bizarre. But it leads to a very fun, very "escapist" game, that takes two seconds to learn. And to master? Well, I'm not sure because I just bought it yesterday, but it's the kind of game that is fun to play whether you win or not.

Oh, what's the premise? Well, bizarre backstory aside, here's how the game works. you're this two-inch tall guy who walks around in a slightly surreal version of earth, and everything you touch, that's close to your size, gets stuck to this magic ball you're pushing around. As the ball (the "katamari") gets bigger, you can glom bigger and bigger things onto it. Your goal is to make the ball reach a certain size - starting at 10 centimeters but, in later levels, expanding to multiple meters. You start out on a desk, picking up thumbtacks and such, but as the game goes on, you can eventually pick up small animals, then people, then vehicles, then entire buildings. Things that are initially obstacles or enemies (you can never get killed - just bounced around and delayed) are soon just another thing you can roll up into your giant ball of stuff. And, as you play, the entire scale of the game changes. First, your world is the top of a table, then it's the room, then it's the whole house, then it's the city.



Gamespot has an excellent video here that really gives you an idea of the game. Anyway, it's unique, it's crazy fun, and you should get it if you have a PS2 (or a PStwo).

Amazon is offering "The Criterion Collection Holiday 2004 Gift Set", perhaps the ultimate gift for movie lovers who... don't own many movies. For those not in the know, the Criterion Collection is a series of DVD's designed by true film nuts for true film nuts. This gift set includes all the Criterion movies currently in print, totalling 241 - that's TWO HUNDRED FORTY ONE - movies, plus extras, making for 282 discs. This can all be yours for a mere $4,999.00. Wow.

Last year around this time, Jones Soda released a limited edition "Turkey and Gravy" soda for Thanksgiving. It was a resounding success (well, in terms of sales at least), so they've decided to take it to the next level this year, by releasing a limited edition holiday pack containing the following five flavors:

• Turkey & Gravy
• Cranberry
• Mashed Potato & Butter
• Green Bean Casserole
• Fruitcake

You'll be able to order your own pack from the Jones Soda Store at 8:00 AM (PST) November 11, 2004. They will definitely go fast, so get 'em while they last. All the proceeds go to Toys For Tots, too, so that's pretty cool.

Here's a lawsuit waiting to happen... FunSlides™ Brand "Carpet Skates™"

I like how the demonstration video takes place in a giant wall-to-wall carpeted room with no furniture, breakable objects, or small pets - because who doesn't have a "carpet rink" like this in their house?

For all you L.A. Ridiculenters, there's a great exhibit of "Monkey Portraits" by photographer Jill Greenberg at the Paul Koepeikin Gallery. After years of photographing Hollywood celebrities, I guess she wanted to move onto subjects a bit more "human". These pictures are fantastic.

Konfabulator is a thingy that lets you run nifty little applications called widgets on your desktop. It has always been a Mac-only thing. But, recently, Apple announced that their new "Tiger" OS will include "Dashboard", which is almost an EXACT duplicate of Konfabulator. (This gets amusing in a minute, hold on). Since the makers of Konfabulator sold it for actual money, and since nearly the exact functionality will now be built into the OS (where have we seen this before?), they decided it would be wise to find a new way to make some money.

Therefore, they are bringing Konfabulator to Windows. This is pretty cool. But, what's much more amusing is the way they are introducing the product... Currently on their homepage, you can follow a safari type journal (no pun intended) describing the developers' supposed adventures studying Windows and Mac computers "in the wild". Very cute.

Well, at least the Red Sox won the World Series. Guess we can't have everything.

For those who voted for Bush because he'll "keep us safe from the terrorists", I ask you this... What does it say when 83% of Manhattan voters, residents of the only American city ever to fall victim to mass murder by terrorists, vote AGAINST Bush?

I think it means you've been lied to. And you fell for it.

At least our stem cells are safe.

When you want to take a break from all the election hubbub, William Shatner's new album is out, and if you've got Windows Media Player, you can apparently listen to the whole thing right here. It's in one big non-fast-forwardable mega-stream but, by God, why would you want to skip any of this goodness? At least check out the opening track - a mind-blowing cover of Pulp's Common People featuring Joe Jackson. Wow.